RELATIVES and friends of a Dudley man who went missing after going for a late-night skinny dip at a wedding reception fear that he may have drowned.

RELATIVES and friends of a Dudley man who went missing after going for a late-night skinny dip at a wedding reception fear that he may have drowned.

Patrick Cody, who is in his early 20s, has not been seen since he went for a swim at Patshull Park Hotel and Country Club, near Wolverhampton, on Friday night.

Hours earlier he had been laughing and joking at the church ceremony of best friends David and Sarah Abbiss, whose families are from Sedgley and Wombourne.

More than 100 guests attended the wedding service at St Chad’s and All Saints Roman Catholic Church in Sedgley on Friday afternoon, followed by the reception at the Pattingham hotel.

After giving his speech, Patrick – who suffers from asthma – went for a swim in the fishing lake at about 11pm, but failed to return.

He had left his clothes at a jetty in front of the hotel and was last seen swimming towards boats on the opposite bank. Friends heard shouts for help and the alarm was raised.

The lake, which is one mile long and up to 200 metres wide at places, has an average depth of 35ft.

Emergency services were called to the hotel and an extensive search involving police helicopters, divers, fire and rescue boats and thermal imaging cameras was carried out.

But West Midlands Ambulance Service was stood down from the search shortly before 4am yesterday morning.

Reverend Joseph Narikuzhi, who conducted the wedding, told the Sunday Mercury the first he heard about the tragic news was when the newlywed couple collected their wedding certificate yesterday.

“Bride Sarah was in tears,” he said. “My thoughts are with the family at this time. They are in our hearts and minds.”

Revd Narikuzhi said that Patrick had been one of three best man who were ‘smiling, joking and looked happy’ throughout the ceremony.

A member of the Abbiss family said: “At first no-one knew exactly what had happened. But slowly it became clear that Patrick was missing. Everyone was terribly distressed, especially the bride and groom.

“Patrick’s sister was very upset, too.”

The missing man’s parents drove to the hotel as soon as they were told of the incident. Last night they were back home in Dudley, where a police family liaison officer was staying with them.

Patrick’s father Dennis Cody, who is believed to be a teacher at a local school, said he was too upset to talk.

Stephen Kimbell, Patshull Park’s general manager said that Patrick had been celebrating with other guests throughout the day, before he was spotted entering the lake.

Mr Kimbell said: “Other guests told us that the best man had gone for a swim about 100 yards out in the lake. After about 20 minutes, there was no sign of him and other guests started to worry that he might have got into trouble.

“Guests were searching the banks of the pond before the emergency services arrived.”

A spokesman for the hotel, which is a popular venue for wedding receptions, added: “The water is quite deep and would have been very cold, especially at that time of night.”

The newlyweds were due to fly out for their honeymoon today as police inquiries continued.